Over 45% of the total number of Sri Lankan Tamils living in rehabilitation camps across Tamil Nadu were born in India, according to an interim report submitted recently by a State government-constituted panel that aims at finding durable solutions to short-and long-term issues of the Sri Lankan Tamils living in and out of camps across the State.
About 79% of them have stayed in India for over 30 years; 7% have lived in India between 21 and 30 years; and 14% of them have lived in the host country between 11 and 20 years. About 8% of the Sri Lankan Tamils have married Indian citizens. There are about 58,200 Sri Lankan refugees living in 104 camps across Tamil Nadu and over 33,200 of them are living outside the camps.
As for their civil documentation, 95% of them have Aadhaar cards, 78% have bank accounts, 1% of them have Sri Lankan passport and 3% have Sri Lankan national ID cards. Of the total, 51% of them are female and 49% are male and as much as 25% of the total population in the camps are children, a source who accessed the report said.
While 59% of them have either primary or secondary-level education, 10% have tertiary-level education. As much as 31% of them are employed, 18% of them are homemakers, 49% of them are students or currently not employed. Among those who are employed, 79% are male and 22% are female.
The interim report had explored ways of granting Indian citizenship to Sri Lankan nationals living in Tamil Nadu and made certain recommendations in this regard. The data provided in the report is believed to be the first such on the demographics of the Sri Lankan Tamils living in Tamil Nadu.
